Consensus is key
The education bill that has been put forward by Greece’s leftist-led government has to be the subject of extensive public consultation.
Even more importantly, it needs to be approved in Parliament by as many deputies as possible. Education is too sensitive an area to allow haste or thoughtlessness to influence the vote and consensus here will be crucial for developments in the future.
The country’s education minister, Aristides Baltas, the academic community and the parties of the opposition ought to engage in an honest and in-depth dialogue on the proposed legislation – a discussion that is free from ideological fixations and gets down to the real issues at hand.
That said, it would be a huge mistake to vote through a piece of legislation that will effectively play into the hands of youth party organizations and the professional unionists that have dug themselves into universities and have, for years, undermined the operation of Greece’s academic institutions.
